via Zimbabwe sues SAA over $877k ‘weather fees’ – NewsDay Zimbabwe March 10, 2016
ENVIRONMENT, Water and Climate minister Oppah Muchinguri has taken the South African Airways (SAA) to the High Court seeking to compel the airline to pay $877 435 in meteorological weather fees.
BY CHARLES LAITON
Muchinguri alleged SAA was using Harare International Airport and Victoria Falls Airport without paying the fees since 2006.
However, SAA has vowed it will not pay the amount since there was nothing at law called “meteorological weather fees”. It accused government departments of duplicating roles and failing to communicate with each other, resulting in the current confusion.
The impasse over the said met-fees was revealed yesterday when SAA approached the High Court with an application seeking to have the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) joined in the matter, arguing they had made all required payments for the airport services to them.
“These two government entities (Environment ministry and CAAZ) are duplicating roles and not communicating with each other,” SAA lawyer Agmos Moyo told High Court judge Justice Ester Muremba in his presentation.
“We have been paying departure, landing and overnight fees to the 2nd respondent (CAAZ) and we have refused to pay the met-fees. There is nothing at law called meteorological fees separately. We have been paying all the fees to CAAZ, which is why we want them to be joined as a party to these proceedings.”
Moyo further said in the unlikely event that SAA was found to be liable, “his client would thus be entitled to seek complete indemnification from the 2nd respondent in respect of all and any such sums claimed by the 1st respondent (Minister of Environment, Water and Climate) in the main case”.
CAAZ lawyer Oscar Gasva told the court his client was not opposed to the joinder, adding the reason was it wanted to clarify its position as to the collections it had made as an agent of the Environment ministry.
According to Muchinguri, through her lawyer Mehluli Tshuma, her ministry was entitled to claim the said fees in terms of the Meteorological Services Act and the Meteorological Service (Aviation Weather Services) Regulations, 2005 (Statutory Instrument 32 of 2005).
“In terms of Statutory Instrument 32 of 2005, the regulations apply to all overflights within the Zimbabwe Flight Information Region and all domestic and international flights landing and departing from those aerodromes where meteorological facilities are available,” she said.
“Defendant’s (SAA) aircraft use and continue to use the aerodrome facilities provided by the plaintiff (Minister of Environment, Water and Climate) making it liable to pay meteorological weather service fees, departure fees, landing fees and overflight fees as provided for by the respective schedule to the Meteorological Service (Aviation Weather Services) Regulations, 2005.”
Justice Muremba granted the application for joinder and the matter is yet to be set down for hearing.
COMMENTS
Uku kutsvaga mari nedemo. Desperate times call for innovative ways to bring in money to the fiscus
This is another sorry example of how ZANU-PF is just pretending to be a real government. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing! ANd it extends from the President on down to the cop on the street. And of course, they never admit their mistakes, they simply point their hands at those caught in the middle. How many times do we read about needless duplication in both government regulations and laws that are in direct opposition to each other or the constitution, but which are still enforced because doing so lines someone’s pocket?
Hehe!
Next it will be El|Nino fees! *pmsl*
Desperate measures. ZBC has sent letters to local companies with CCTV security camera’s and asking for ‘broadcasting fees’. How embarrassing to show their lack of basic technical knowledge in broadcasting and that they are grovelling to private companies to feed themselves.
It’s amazing how we have become “a nation of beggar-thieves”. This beggar/thief mentality permeates every level of our society. Rather than create conditions for production and work hard to produce, we assume someone has the money we need and all we have to do is figure out how to get it. It’s even vaunted as being smart – just check some of the clowns we call businessmen!
How desperate can you get? And is it really worth SAA’s time to fly here?
These hicks don’t even know what a ‘statutory instrument’ is.
Zimbabwe is nothing more than a backwards train wreck.
although considered unlikely maybe just maybe south africa and caaz worked out a deal where they could reduce both their costs and increase their personal income resulting in failure to pay certain fees. but then again how can we be sure of whose tellling the truth when court proceedings havent gone further than exchanging of documents and satements of intentions #hope for zimbabwe#payyourbills